The People's Republic of China is run by a single party, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), headed by the CCP General Secretary who serves as the paramount leader of China. State power within the People's Republic of China (PRC) is exercised through the CCP, the Central People's Government and its provincial and local representation. The state uses Internal Reference, secret documents produced by Xinhua News Agency, similar to the United States' President's Daily Brief. China's two special administrative regions (SARs), Hong Kong and Macau, have independent multi-party systems and are separate from the mainland's one-party system.
The term "mainland China" is a geopolitical term for a subset of the territory claimed by the People's Republic of China (PRC) which excludes several dependent territories or claimed disputed territories which may or may not be governed by the PRC. By convention, the territories claimed by the PRC that fall outside of the Chinese mainland include:
The president of the Republic of China, usually referred to as the president of Taiwan, is the head of state of the Republic of China (Taiwan) and the commander-in-chief of the Republic of China Armed Forces.
The controversy regarding the political status of Taiwan, sometimes referred to as the Taiwan Issue or Taiwan Strait Issue or, from a Taiwanese perspective, as the Mainland Issue, is a result of the Chinese Civil War and the subsequent split of China into the two present-day self-governing entities of the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China.
The "One-China policy" is a United States policy which acknowledges, but does not endorse, the "One-China principle". The One-China principle is the People's Republic of China (PRC) position that there is only one sovereign state under the name China and Taiwan is part of China, as opposed to the idea that there are two states, the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Republic of China (ROC).
The premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China, abbreviated to Premier, sometimes also referred to informally as the Prime minister, is the head of government and leader of the State Council of China. The premier is nominally the principal advisor to the president of the People's Republic and holds the highest rank in the civil service of the central government.
The Constitution of the People's Republic of China is nominally the supreme law of the People's Republic of China. It was adopted by the 5th National People's Congress on December 4, 1982, with further revisions about every five years. It is the fourth constitution in the country's history, superseding the 1954 constitution, the 1975 constitution, and the 1978 constitution.
Rosamond Soong Ch'ing-ling was a Chinese political figure. As the third wife of Sun Yat-sen, one of the leaders of the 1911 revolution that established the Republic of China, she was often referred to as Madame Sun Yat-sen. She was a member of the Soong family and, together with her siblings, played a prominent role in China's politics prior to and after 1949.
Throughout the history of the People's Republic of China, the position that effectively reigned as the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces changed from time to time. During some periods, it was not exactly clear who was the supreme commander of the People's Liberation Army. Recently, Chairman of the Central Military Commission serves as the Commander-in-chief of the People's Liberation Army. The officeholder is usually the General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) as well as the paramount leader.
The 1954 Constitution of the People's Republic of China was adopted and enacted on September 20, 1954, through the first session of the First National People’s Congress in Beijing.
The 1978 Constitution of the People's Republic of China was promulgated in 1978. This was the PRC's 3rd constitution, and was adopted at the 1st Meeting of the 5th National People's Congress on March 5, 1978, two years after the downfall of the Gang of Four.
The Government of the People's Republic of China is collectively the state authority in the People's Republic of China (PRC) under the exclusive political leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). It consists of legislative, executive, military, supervisory, judicial, and procuratorial branches.
The Temporary Provisions Effective During the Period of National Mobilization for Suppression of the Communist Rebellion were provisions of the Constitution of the Republic of China effective from 1948 to 1991 and amended four times by the Central Government of China. They effectively nullified the constitution and established martial law in Taiwan, where civil and political freedoms were curtailed. The official rationale for the provisions was the ongoing Chinese Civil War, but with the demise of the Kuomintang single-party system, the provisions were repealed.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China is the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China and one of the country's most important cabinet posts. The Minister usually is also a member of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party.
The term "Two Chinas" refers to the current geopolitical situation of two political entities with the name "China":
The Constitutional history of the People's Republic of China describes the evolution of its Constitutional system. The first Constitution of the People's Republic of China was promulgated in 1954. After two intervening versions enacted in 1975 and 1978, the current Constitution was promulgated in 1982. There were significant differences between each of these versions, and the 1982 Constitution has subsequently been amended several times. In addition, changing Constitutional conventions have led to significant changes in the structure of the Chinese government in the absence of changes in the text of the Constitution.
The chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress is the presiding officer of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPCSC), highest organ of state power and top legislative body in the People's Republic of China (PRC). The incumbent chairman is Li Zhanshu.
The succession of power in China takes place in the context of a single party system. Despite the guarantee of universal franchise in the constitution, the appointment of the Paramount Leader lies largely in the hands of his predecessor and the powerful factions that control the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party. The appointment of the leader occurs after two five year terms in accordance with the Constitution of the People's Republic of China. But this was changed to three of four five year terms during the first plenary session of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China.
The National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China, often referred to as the National People's Congress (NPC), is the highest organ of state power and the national legislature of the People's Republic of China. With 2,980 members in 2018, it is the largest parliamentary body in the world. The National People's Congress meets in full session for roughly two weeks each year and votes on important pieces of legislation and personnel assignments among other things, and due to the temporary nature of the plenary sessions, most of NPC's power is delegated to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPCSC), which consists of about 170 legislators and meets in continuous bi-monthly sessions, when its parent NPC is not in session.
The president of the People's Republic of China is the head of state of the People's Republic of China. The role of the president alone is largely ceremonial with limited power. However, as a matter of convention, the presidency is held simultaneously by the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, who also serves as the chairman of the Central Military Commission, thus is often the paramount leader of China.
